Great cities need great art, and for more than three decades Opera Colorado has brought world-class opera to Colorado audiences. Today Opera Colorado serves as a cornerstone of Denver’s cultural community, bringing grand opera to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, its Denver home since its opening in 2005.

Alongside standard repertoire in the grand opera tradition, Opera Colorado presents new works or rarely performed productions each season. Opera Colorado was proud to produce the world première of The Scarlet Letter with their next world première scheduled for 2018, entitled Steal a Pencil for Me.

The company reaches more than 37,500 students and adults through its many education and community engagement programs throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Opera Colorado’s Young Artists, singers at the beginning stages of their careers, perform during their eight-month residency with the company in schools and community centers across the State—including an annual tour on the Western Slope. Recognised nationally for its excellence, the Young Artists program provides training for the next generation of American opera singers.

The fourth general director in Opera Colorado’s 33-year history, Greg Carpenter, guides both the artistic and administrative operations of the company. His role as general director began in 2007, prior to which he served as Opera Colorado’s Director of Development from 2004–2007, overseeing all fundraising and Board of Directors activities. Carpenter has served on the Board of Directors for OPERA America, and is a regular judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

For more information, visit www.operacolorado.org.

Ari Pelto, at the age of 24, was appointed assistant conductor at the Spoleto Festival and has gone on to conduct on stages worldwide. His international appearances include productions at New National Theatre of Tokyo, the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador as well as productions during Oberlin in Italy each summer.

He made his highly praised début with New York City Opera in 2004 conducting La traviata, and later Madama Butterfly, La Bohème and Carmen. In 2015, Pelto was named Opera Colorado’s first ever music director, where he has conducted acclaimed performances and the world première of Lori Laitman’s The Scarlet Letter. Pelto will lead the world première of Gerald Cohen’s Steal a Pencil for Me in January 2018.

Described by Fanfare magazine as “one of the most talented and intriguing of living composers,” Lori Laitman has composed multiple operas and choral works, and hundreds of songs, setting texts by classical and contemporary poets (including those who perished in the Holocaust). Her music has generated substantial critical acclaim. The Journal of Singing wrote: “It is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music.”

Laitman’s opera The Scarlet Letter, with a libretto by David Mason, was released on Naxos (8.669034–35) and named a Critic’s Choice by Opera News and one of the top five albums of 2018 by Fanfare magazine. The Three Feathers, Laitman’s fairy-tale opera with librettist Dana Gioia, premiered in 2014 and has since been heard throughout the US and in Singapore. Uncovered, her opera based on Leah Lax’s memoir, will premiere in April 2021 at Utah State University.

Laitman has received many prestigious commissions, including from the BBC and the Royal Philharmonic Society, OPERA America, Opera Colorado, Seattle Opera, Grant Park Music Festival, Music of Remembrance and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. A magna cum laude Yale College graduate, she received her Master of Music from Yale School of Music, which awarded her the Ian Mininberg Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in May 2018.

For more information, please visit www.artsongs.com.